Good Friends
by omegafire17
Summary: Sousuke's relationship with Kaname has gone well, more than anyone could have expected. But of course, that isn't all in his life - his friends on the Tuatha De Danaan still have to adjust to the reality of the changed Sergeant, even if just in small doses. Rated T, takes place after 'Future'


**Disclaimer:** Don't own Full Metal Panic, or it's characters, in any way

**Rating:** T

**Taking a break from his relationship, to his friendships :)**

* * *

><p>He stepped off the helicopter, right onto the hanger deck of the Tuatha De Danaan, surprising the officer on watch there. "Sousuke?" the ensign asked, surprised as he checked his operations list. "There's no record of you coming here-"<p>

"Indeed, there isn't" he answered, to further surprise. "This is an unofficial visit of mine, and I intend to keep the knowledge limited for now. You will not inform anyone as well until after today."

He blinked once, glancing at his list. "Uhh... yes sir" he answered, briefly saluting, which he nodded at before moving quickly.

His knowledge of stealth and the De Danaan's contours would be invaluable in this situation.

/

A short time later, having made sure he evaded all-but-one other soldier, he soon arrived at the door he seeked. Still, he wasn't entirely looking forward to this situation – his knowledge was still incomplete, and in addition things could go unexpectedly, and he might not know how to respond. Then he shook his head, getting over it; such thoughts would only delay him. Then he stepped inside, at attention even as he moved, the receptionist barely looking up. "Let me guess, you'd like to see the Captain?"

"Yes, thank you."

His voice startled the receptionist, who stared at him. "Sousuke? But you aren't-?"

"Yes, this is not an official visit" he said immediately. "And my reason for visiting is not official either – but I wish to talk to the Captain anyway."

It took the woman a full minute to recover enough to answer, but eventually she did, pushing the intercom button. "Captain? You have a visitor."

_"Is it Melissa or Kurz?"_

"Ah, no ma'am – it's Sousuke."

No one could mistake the quickly-stifled gasp that she made... but her voice was still composed when she finally said _"Ah, yes, send him in."_

The woman nodded at him, and he went inside, the door closing behind him. And of course due to protocol, he showed nothing but respect for his Captain – but internally, he noted she looked well, if slightly taller than he remembered. However, that aspect was revealed to be the slightly-larger chair that she currently sat in (replacing the old one, apparently destroyed in the torpedo attack he'd overheard earlier). And also uncomfortably, he began to see how pretty she looked, even with her hair up in the military-accepted style.

However, he remembered that was also not wrong, for his gender to recognize that the opposite one looked pretty, or even to say so... just that he not act on it inappropriately, especially in this environment.

"Captain" he said, at attention.

"Sergeant" she said, perfectly gentle. "What a surprise to see you here. How have you been?"

"I have been well" he answered. "There have been very few incidents, on my part or otherwise."

He was surprised when she started giggling. "I was wondering about that" she answered cheerfully, gesturing to a folder on her desk, which he recognized as kept a record of the general happenings of his mission in Tokyo. "When the number of 'incidents' started drastically declining, I thought I wasn't seeing things correctly at first. No one else could believe it either."

"I've had very... selective training" he said, glancing up for a moment. "This was after determining that normal methods had no effect on me."

Because his glance was up, he missed the brief flicker of sadness in her eyes, but she still smiled. "Well, whatever happened, I'm glad you're not causing anymore excessive trouble, Sergeant" she noted.

"Thank you" he acknowledged, before he pulled his packet from behind his back.

"Hmm? What's that?"

"In the past, and the present, there was always the need for more Lambda Drivers" he stated, slowly placing the packet on her desk before going back to attention (she took it after a moment). "The information in that packet is by no means complete to construct a functional one, but it provides a start of several basic components and equations, which could speed up development. They have been taken by several complete inspections of AI, as well as scattered bits of his memory."

Even as he talked, she flipped through several of the pages, looking at him after he'd finished with a smile. "Well, I and the engineers will certainly take all that we can get" she said mildly. "Thank you, Sergeant, and I expect you to continue this research."

"Of course; that is my intention, Captain."

"Good" she answered, before she slowly drew back, blinking once. "But... there's one thing I'm still confused about, Sousuke. There's no precedent of you coming here without orders, and even disregarding that, it isn't like you - why?"

It took him several moments to find the right words. "It is... unusual for me, I admit, but I feel I must begin the practice of seeing my friends occasionally" he stated faintly. "It is part of my ongoing process of becoming more independent, less of a mindless soldier and more... myself."

She smiled a bit. "I imagine that includes Melissa and Kurz, if you haven't already visited them."

"Indeed. But my visit to you is not just to see friends, or to give reports. It is... there is one other thing.

Tessa tilted her head. "Which is?"

"Well..." he trailed off, slowly steeling himself. "To answer that, I require permission to speak freely, Captain."

She was surprised, looking at him a moment more, before, "Granted."

He slowly sighed in and out, closing his eyes. "Tessa-"

She gasped hard, and he was hard-pressed to remember that saying her real name was not inappropriate, as he had permission to speak freely. Plus, it gave him a strong reminder to the last time this had happened, but that could be reviewed later.

"-it has taken me a lot of time and effort" he continued, with some effort. "Yet I have learned a lot from being in Tokyo, though there is still more that I have not yet. In particular, this learning has included the basics of friendship and... romance, presented in unusual ways. This has shed light on many things I did not understand, even if I do not fully understand some aspects as of yet."

The moment he said 'romance', her expression slowly changed, even as he talked... by the end of it, she was glancing down, eyes hidden from him. However, it did not seem to be full-on depression mode, which he decided to take as a good sign.

He stood there, silent, hoping he would not have to get more direct in the implications.

"I knew it" she breathed, not a statement.

He slowly looked at her.

"Even when I chewed you out before, about wanting to be with her... I knew that I was losing you" she said, her voice unsteady, but not weak. "And that there was nothing I could do. I hated feeling helpless like that."

"I am truly sorry, Tessa" he said faintly.

After a moment, she slowly wiped at her eyes with one hand. "I- I know you're sincere, Sousuke, but..." she breathed, trailing off. Despite himself, he knew what she meant, and mentally sighed to himself. "I also know where this will go, Sousuke."

"Hmm?"

"In your own way, you've already admitted how you feel – I'm important to you, but not the most important one in your life" she breathed, still sad, fingers absentmindedly playing with her ponytail. "She is... and soon enough you'll want to be with her full-time, without us."

He was simultaneously relieved and surprised when he realized she was talking about his desire to leave Milthril at some point.

She made a little sound, slowly looking up at him from her desk. "You're not even trying to say otherwise" she noted faintly, her lips curving a bit, but still unable to mask the sadness. "Well... at least it isn't like before."

_"Before"_ he thought to himself. _"When she 'chewed me out' for making things obliviously worse..."_

"Tessa-"

"No, it's okay" she breathed, a bit forcefully. "You can- you can go now, Sergeant."

By all rights, he should have taken that as his cue no matter what his feelings were; that was how he was supposed to operate, as what the Captain said was an order, no matter what. But as he'd learned, it wasn't always that simple... and here, he saw a loophole, because she'd said 'can'.

After a moment of steeling, he slowly stepped forward, as silent as could be.

Tessa only heard late enough to see him standing over her desk, bent forward a bit... then she gasped heavily when his hand touched her cheek, turning them red. On his side, he was a bit nervous about her reaction, but certain he was doing the right thing. But all means casual and military, he could not kiss her cheek, as it would be wrong... but this would suffice, barely.

"I will always be your closest friend, Tessa" he said gently. "That will never change; I give you my word."

To say that he'd surprised her was an understatement, clearly: she was apparently halfway between reality that this was happening, and that 'dreamy' quality that was enjoying this while it lasted. He made sure to purposefully linger, allowing her this... then after five seconds, he withdrew, standing back at attention.

"Captain" he breathed.

Hand over her cheek, she continued to stare at him for quite awhile, mouth open a little... then she slowly made a sound, between a giggle and a laugh. "Dismissed, Sergeant" she said, with a definite happy note.

He allowed a split-second curve of his lip to acknowledge this, then turned and walked out. On the inside, he was extremely glad that had gone well - perhaps this resolution would not make her feelings go away, or entirely relieve the related tension, but they would remain good friends, which was important to him. So yes, perhaps the problem had not been 'nipped in the bud' entirely, but he trusted his captain not to get carried away with herself (well, consciously anyway - incidents could still happen, like they did before).

Now, another visit was in order.

* * *

><p><em>Knock knock<em>

He barely had to wait before the door opened: "Okay, what took you so lo-?" Kurz breathed, obviously annoyed before he registered who he was talking to. "Sousuke? What are you doing here?"

"Visiting" he answered truthfully. "May I come in?"

"Well, sure, but even being here without a mission isn't like you" he said mildly, hand on the frame above, but standing aside a bit to allow him through (he got in easily). "Tessa hasn't given you a mission right?"

"Not at all" he answered, seeing Mao working at a lit desk, with such intensity that clearly she hadn't heard anything that'd been going on. He briefly wondered what she was doing here with Kurz, but didn't get the chance to form any theories so far.

"Wow, that's so rebellious of you" Kurz continued, throwing an arm around his shoulder (he barely flinched at all). "Hey Mao, you hearing any of this?"

"Yeah, yeah, go hit on some other girl."

Indeed, Mao definitely didn't seem to hear anything that was going on, considering her light offhand tone. "What is she doing anyway?" he inquired.

Kurz sighed. "Well, you know the drill" he said in his usual way. "I do the busy work, but neglect the paperwork, and recently she just got sick of that. And me. So she chews me out, and now she's personally working to make sure it gets done... and if I so much as say she doesn't have to do that, she explodes again."

"But why is she taking so personal an interest in getting your paperwork done?" he asked, a little confused.

"I'll tell you why, Sousuke" Mao answered, standing up, truly looking at him now (but not with surprise that he was here). "Because like this idiot just said, I'm sick of this happening, and I'm not gonna let it affect his performance review."

"Hey, my performance review is WAY above any mistakes I make!" Kurz argued, getting right in her face.

She did not back down. "So you claim, every single damn time! Well reality check mister-!"

"Don't start that tired cliché again-!"

And so they argued, currently oblivious to his presence while he stood off to the side – he did not regard this as unusual, but now he actually had a faint interest. Clearly this was how their relationship worked; on and off duty, arguing 'to hell and back' because of personality differences, but also knowing they could be trusted at the end of the day (though Mao likely had specific circumstances that she would never trust him with).

But as he observed this though, he got an odd feeling.

This seemed... familiar somehow.

He could not understand it, seeing Kurz suddenly lean forward during the argument, and Mao briefly gripping him by the collar – how was this familiar in any way?

Flashes of images came into his head: the numerous times Kaname had flipped out, grabbing him by the collar and shaking him vigorously as he attempted to explain things; a few of her paper fan hits; and the times she'd gotten really close in her yellings.

Subconsciously, he saw it... over the arguing Mao and Kurz, were super-imposed images of himself and Kaname.

He made a sound in shock, which went completely unnoticed.

Could it be true?

/

It had taken awhile before his friends cooled down, and quite a bit of 'complaining' from Kurz after Mao had gone to deliver the paperwork. However, soon she had returned, and apparently in better spirits – though she still gave Kurz a 'dirty' look.

"So, anyway, what are you doing here, Sousuke?" she asked, arms crossed, but her lips curved. "And I mean really? You never come to the Tuatha unless there's a mission involved."

"Usually, that is true" he admitted. "However, there were a few things I wished to take care of."

"What, like seeing Tessa?" Kurz teased, hands behind his head. This earned him a 'hit upside the head', if he saw it correctly.

"You dolt" she said dourly.

"I'd rather you didn't do that, Mao" he spoke up. "Kurz is within his rights to call her Tessa, as we are all off-duty, and she is not present. And I do not enjoy seeing him hurt for no good reason."

Surprised (both of them), Mao took a moment to respond, but it was a little smile. "Wow, you really have changed" she noted, leaning back, setting the can down. "Even last time you were here, you would always observe protocol to the letter, no matter what. Now you're actually loosening up?"

"Ah, our little boy's growing up!" Kurz exclaimed with a big grin, still nursing his wound. "I bet Kaname's gotten through to you, Sousuke, probably with a little sexual something-something-"

"Dude, of all the stupid damn things you could have said-!"

"Actually, Kurz is correct" he admitted.

It was as if time froze, save for a simultaneous head-turn directed at him, with high levels of shock in their expressions.

"Or rather, he is correct in that sexual 'something-something' has occurred, but it is not the sole cause of my changes" he continued, observing for signs that his words were not getting through, and trying to ignore the embarrassment at telling them this. "Due to my inability to learn, Kaname resorted to more unusual methods, specifically tailored to me. At first it was just instruction, but soon it became *pause* more than that, I realized, in part thanks to her. And after that realization, things just sort of... developed more naturally."

He counted a full ten seconds before they actually reacted.

"Okay, did someone send a Sousuke robot in here?" Kurz demanded, standing up. "Whoever/whatever you are, prove where my buddy is!"

Rather than give the obvious reply 'But I'm here', he merely remained where he sat. "How so?" he asked.

"Well, if you really are Sousuke, you still won't disobey orders, no matter what they may be" Kurz continued, before rounding on Mao. "Come on, give him an order Major; I want my buddy back!"

"Okay, first, off-duty or not, watch your tone, Sergeant" she told him, standing up, arms crossed. "And second, I'm not gonna order him to do something ridiculous!"

"Okay then, fine" Kurz breathed, digging around in his supplies. "Then how about this, phony?"

Despite having a gun aimed at him, he was not concerned. "You will not shoot me, Kurz" he said with complete sincerity.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, cocking it.

"You still would not shoot me, even if you pulled the trigger" he continued easily. "That gun is not loaded."

A moment, then sigh; "Damn, that kind of military thoroughness, to the point that he can tell this gun wasn't loaded just by _looking_ at it... that can only be Sousuke" he said weakly, as if he still couldn't believe it. "You're still the same when it comes to that kind of paranoia!"

Paranoia? Was that how others perceived his actions? Hmm, interesting...

Mao then slapped the gun out of his hand, where it clattered against the metal hull. "Okay, secret test or not, you can't just break the rules of gun safety like that!"

"Well sorry, it just popped into my head-!"

"Yeah? Well, so will I when I put you on report!"

Observing this, the super-imposed images of himself and Kaname appeared again... though his image, in accordance with Kurz's actions, was acting unlike himself.

_"Still, I can sorta see it now"_ he slowly thought. _"They possess the sort-of 'belligerence' tension, but it remains to be seen; is it romantic in nature, or merely friendly?"_

He was certain of one thing though; if he so much as mentioned it, it would probably only lead to more anger, via 'explosions' that he was insinuating such a thing. But either way, he found it... interesting to watch, for multiple reasons.

/

_Later_

"So tell me, Sousuke, how did Kaname get through to you? I mean, _really_ got through to you, because I didn't think that was possible."

He considered Kurz's question, even as he sat between his friends (who seemed to have 'gotten out' all of their earlier work-related tension, and now remained perfectly amicable). "Well, considering my six months stationed in Toyko, with no success at adaptation, she determined that normal methods were ineffective on me" he started. "So instead, she decided to use military terms and strategies as metaphors for my learning."

Mao chuckled. "Let me guess, even she didn't expect them to work so well?"

"I did not expect anything, and it is only in hindsight, but I believe yes" he answered, looking at her. "At times, even I was surprised by how much everything made sense, simply by being compared to military strategies."

Kurz clapped him on the back, which he reacted to, but not as much as he might have before. "Miraculous either way, I call it" Kurz said mildly. "You might still have plans and contingencies if we were to attempt to stab you in the back - even though we'd never do that - just because you're you, but you actually got some good out of your teachings!"

"I assume you mean... how close me and Kaname have gotten" he said, a little bit exasp- savvy what Kurz was alluding to.

"Duh!"

Both he and Mao sighed, to their mutual surprise.

Then she just smirked a little. "Well, maybe once in a while I can actually punch you in the chest nowadays" she said mildly. "You know that friendly gesture, right?"

"I do, but you would need to measure how much pressure you touch me with" he answered amicably. "Too much, and I may injure you out of instinct."

She slowly raised a eyebrow. "Are you joking?" she asked in a teasing tone.

"Somewhat" he agreed.

"Okay, okay, okay" Kurz interrupted, standing up. "Understanding civilian interactions, great; making an attempt at a joke, I can get with that; but if you start _laughing_ Sousuke, I'm definitely throwing you overboard no matter what!"

Ah yes, too much change too soon and friends will get suspicious, much like Kaname's 'Who are you!?' query. Also interesting.

"It is not a problem" he answered - Kurz just sagged with a big sigh, while Mao laughed, though at what exactly he was slightly unsure. But he did observe a slight impulse to smile as a result, leading him to think that 'laughter is contagious' might have some credence after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, he did change a lot, and it was bound to get shock :P But they deserved to know lol<strong>


End file.
